Dimitri's temper
by FuryPossessed
Summary: Dimitri finds out that his father has gone back to Baia and has been hitting his Mom again. That day said father turns up but what will happen when Dimitri loses control? ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**The boring bit first DISCLAIMER: Vampire Acadmey and all its characters belong to Richelle Mead. **

**Interesting it: I was re-reading Vampire Academy (agian) and when Dimitri told Rose he punched his father I wondered what woudl happen if he ever found out that his father had been hitting his mom again and this is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy. **

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The door opened nervously. The person who opened it looked at the floor.

"Karolina?" Dimitri asked.

The person snapped her head up surprise filling her brown eyes. "Dimka?" she asked. Tears spilled down her eyes seeming from relief. "Oh, Dimka." She sobbed and threw her arms around his neck.

Dimitri held her and whispered soft words of Russian to her. He threw me a panicked glance. Karolina calmed down and her sobs turned into sniffs. Dimitri led her inside. I, awkwardly, followed.

He led her into the kitchen.

The person who I assumed was his mother – Olena – turned round. Dimitri dropped Karolina's hand and strode over to her. Again he spoke in Russian. He reached for her face and brushed her hair away from her eye. And revealed a large, black bruise.

He swore. A lot. All the swear words he'd ever used in our trainings come to his lips in one long string. Olena looked away and mumbled something. Dimitri put his hands on her shoulders and demanded something no doubt wanting to know exactly what happened. I looked back to Olena to see silent tears escaping her eyes as she explained.

Intense anger clouded Dimitri's eyes. He shook with it. He said something else and stared out the window. Olena went back to doing what she'd been doing before our arrival and Karolina took herself out of the room.

Not sure that now was the best time to ask but dying of curiosity, I slowly walked over to Dimitri and asked:

"What happened?"

"My father." He said bitterly. "Last time he came Viktoria tried to stop him and he used fire magic on her. She's in hospital not doing so well."

"Shit." I breathed.

There was a knock at the door.

Olena stiffened.

Karolina scurried to answer it.

"Calm down." I whispered and lay a hand on his arm.

He moved it and pointedly looked away.

Karolina came into the room followed by a Moroi. Blonde, grey eyed, tall even for a Moroi. His eyes hardened when he saw his son in the room.

"Dimitri." he nodded his head.

"Levi." Dimitri growled.

Levi tried to step passed but Dimitri gripped his shoulder. For a moment they looked into each others eyes and traded what sounded like a few insults. Then Dimitri yelped and snatched his hand away. Where his hand had been was a glowing metal button, red with heat.

Levi stepped forward closing the space between him and Olena. Olena obediently turned to face him.

In the blink of an eye Dimitri was stood next to him, a hand crushing his arm.

"A word. Outside. Now."

Levi didn't have much choice for Dimitri half towed half dragged Levi from the room and out the back door. Just knowing his temper was past boiling I tried to stop him leaving but Olena stood in my way and shut the doors. I protested but she would hear nothing of it and pushed me towards the window.

"If you really want to watch you can watch from there." she said with a tone that brooked no argument.

Reluctantly I obeyed already planning to get outside as quickly as possible. If I could escape St. Vladimir's I could easily dodge passed Dimitri's mother. As I looked out the window I could hear the words that were being violently exchanged and kind of understood the meaning of them even though I didn't know what exactly was being said.

The talking stopped. Dimitri stalked over to Levi and towered above him. He snarled a threat and forced him to back against the fence as he did so. Levi sneered something. Dimitri punched him. I flinched but stayed still. It was going to stop there. That's how it had been last time.

He punched him again. Even though he was slumped in a daze. And again. I could almost hear ribs cracking as Dimitri punched him over and over. He shouted things and made threats. He broke Levi's nose.

Olena just flinched and turned away.

Something made me finally move.

I ran for the door, fumbled with it for a few moments, and all but sprinted to Dimitri's side.

"Stop it!" I shouted. He didn't. "Dimitri! Stop!" Still he didn't.

I tried pulling his arm back, tried stopping him but still he kept punching and punching. He barely even noticed. Only noticed enough to push me away. In that moment I didn't know who he was and it scared me. I lay there, on the ground for a few moments unable to move. If a strigoi did that to me I'd be up in a flash but it was Dimitri who did it. I didn't want to believe that he'd done it but he had.

He was mad, obviously, but I hadn't realised he was so out of control he wouldn't listen to or recognise me. Slowly I got back up and made my way back over to him. He was still bent over Levi, all his fury being laid into him. A storm was in his eyes and governed his actions. The storm clouds that blacked out the sky broke and rain clouded our vision. Lightening struck and thunder rumbled.

Instead of trying to stop his arm moving I decided a sort of rugby tackle would perhaps work better. He fell sideways easily, not expecting my attack. He tried to spring back up but I forced him back to the floor.

He said something in Russian.

"No!" I snapped. "Not until you get a grip."

Anger was still evident in his eyes but for now it was all directed at me. As much as it killed me to be the cause of his anger I couldn't let him go. If I did… I was pretty sure he'd kill Levi. He began struggling again. I pressed down on him determined that he wouldn't move.

"Damn it, Rose! Get off me!"

"No!" I yelled. "There's no way in hell I'm moving until you calm down."

"I am calm."

"No you're not." My voice cracked.

I'd never seen him like this. Never seen him out of control. I was scared that he'd never be the same again. Scared that I'd never have _my_ Dimitri back. Something in my voice must have got through to him because he stopped moving and I felt him relax.

"Rose? Are you alright?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah."

I stood up. Dimitri did too. As soon as he saw Levi his eyes went hard again.

"Go inside. Now, Dimitri."

He did. Thankfully. When the door was closed I walked over to Levi and helped him up. Both of his eyes were black, a bruise covered his temped where Dimitri had first struck him; another peppered the corner of his mouth, his hand rested on his side no doubt where another bruise was forming.

"Thank you." He managed to say. He wiped blood from his mouth.

"I didn't do it for you." I spat.

He looked at me questioningly.

"If you ever," I growled. My voice was so cold I barely recognised it, "come anywhere near this family ever again I swear Dimitri and I will hunt you down like a pack of psi-hounds and what happened here today will feel like a pat on the back."

"You're just a novice what can you do to me?"

"I am the queen's official guardian so I can do whatever I like. First of all I'll bring you close to death and then I'll let you recover in a room in Tarasov prison."

He visibly flinched. Most people didn't even know where Tarasov was but its notorious reputation preceded it. Even by Moroi standards it was pretty grim.

"You can't do that."

"I can."

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

He gulped and visibly paled.

"You're going to pay for Viktoria's medical bills and then never come back to Baia. Understood?"

He nodded too scared for words and left via the gate in the garden.

I walked into the house. Saw Dimitri and pointedly ignored him. He put a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"Rose?"

"Don't 'Rose' me." I snapped. I turned to face him. "What the hell were you doing, Dimitri? You almost killed him. You have more self control than that even when you're killing Strigoi. In that moment I didn't even know who you were!" I shouted. "But you definitely," I growled, "were not the Dimitri Belikov I agreed to marry."

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**Let me know what you think (: **


	2. Chapter 2

**A few people asked me to continue this and I had an idea so here's the next chapter. I hope you like it (: **

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**It was still raining outside but it was getting harder. Dimitri followed me intent on resolving our argument. I didn't bother closing the door behind me although I was kind of tempted to slam it. Within a few moments my clothes were soaked. Dimitri was still wearing his duster so he was fine.

"I didn't mean for it to go that far." He said.

"Well it did."

"I lost control."

"My Dimitri doesn't lose control –" I stopped mid sentence remembering what I said to him once. _You put on a good face and most of the time you do stay in control. But sometimes you can't and sometimes – sometimes you don't want to. _

He seemed to notice my change in attitude and walked closer to me. "I'm sorry, Roza."

I looked at the floor and studied the ripples rain drops were causing as they fell into the puddle I was stood in. "I just – You scared me. That's all."

I felt strong hands cup my chin and tilt my head. In the cold of the rain they were exceedingly hot but right now they were a comfort. I looked into his dark, dark eyes, longing and desire filling me. Something within him smouldered and a determination filled him.

"I'm never going to hurt anyone ever again. I promise."

"Damn. I already promised Levi we'd all but kill him if he ever came back here." I answered flippantly.

"Don't tempt me." Anger flashed in his eyes. I didn't like it.

"How come you haven't given me your coat yet? I thought you were supposed to be a gentleman." I joked.

He lightly smiled and led me inside. Back in the kitchen Olena passed me a mug of something. It smelt suspiciously like tea. I grimly accepted it too polite to refuse it. Yeah tea wasn't on my list of drinks I like. Dimitri took a mug too.

"Mom, Karolina, Grandma Yeva." He said slipping into a formal mode. He took a breath. "This is Rose. We're getting married in the fall."

Olena and Karolina smiled and gave me a quick hug after congratulating Dimitri. Grandma Yeva just sat in her chair impassively. I suspected she'd been there throughout the whole Levi thing but I hadn't noticed her. Honestly I was beginning to think that that was a good thing.

She looked really old but there was something intense about her. She was short – shorter than my mom at a guess – and looked thin enough to be blown away in a slight breeze. It was her eyes that were scary. Big and black. They looked like they were hiding secrets.

She didn't move from her chair and merely nodded in Dimitri's direction.

Dimitri sat next to me. I leaned over and whispered, "Is she always this scary?"

"She'll warm up to you." He murmured back. "When can we see Viktoria?" he asked Olena.

"We can go now if you like. Sonya said she'd make her way over after work. The kids are over at Saint Basil's anyway so they'll meet us there."

After the quickest change of my life I tumbled into the car next to Dimitri. He sped all the way there heedless of the speed signs. Tension filled the car. No one spoke all the way there. The closer we got the tighter Dimitri's grip on the steering wheel became.

The Academy was another sprawling set of gothic buildings like St Vladimir's but it was even older. Beyond that I couldn't tell you much about the building as I was so caught up with everyone's emotions. Dimitri had his guardian mask on for now, as did Yeva. Karolina and Olena had open expressions of worry.

We didn't have to wait too long at reception to be allowed into the main part of the building. The infirmary wasn't far away.

Viktoria was the only person in there. She lay on a bed in an easily accessible yet private part of the ward. Bandages covered her torso and arms. Tubes were everywhere giving her food and water, medicine and god only knows what else. Machines beeped some fast, others slow.

Everyone slowed down. I stopped. It wasn't fair that I was here. I didn't even know her. Her family were the people who were supposed to be beside her. People who loved her and cared for her. Not a stranger. Not someone who didn't even know what she looked like.

"Rose?" Dimitri asked.

I shook my head. "I can't. I'm not supposed to be here."

"I want you to meet her."

There was a note to his voice which I strongly suspected was fear. I'd never heard that in his voice before and it scared me. I looked into his eyes and his guardian mask was gone, replaced with emotions enough to bring tears to my eyes. I knew what he was saying. He wanted me to meet Viktoria before she died.

I solemnly nodded. He towed me to the bed.

I knew Viktoria was injured but this was like nothing I've ever seen before. All I could see of her was bandages and singed hair. Dimitri, with an intake of breath, visibly stiffened. He growled something in Russian and gently laid a hand on her leg – the only part of her that wasn't injured. Silent tears fell from Karolina's face. Olena's arm came to circle her waist. Yeva sat on the only chair with a guardian mask on.

Yeva said something. I hated not understanding what was being said – I felt incompetent but I knew that I didn't have the patience to learn a new language so I let Dimitri translate for me.

"She said 'Something golden and wonderful will surge within her before the end.' I hope she's right."

I put my hand over his and squeezed it a little. He took my hand in his and squeezed back.

Although I didn't know Yeva Dimitri had told me of her and her weird prophecy like visions. I didn't much believe in them but Dimitri was convinced so I began to wonder what she meant. Maybe it was something to do with finding her inner peace before she died.

For what seemed like forever we sat there in total silence. After a while I couldn't take it anymore and excused myself on the premise of needing the toilet. It actually didn't sound like a bad idea after saying it.

Although the small space of the toilet cubicle was silent it was a relieving silence after what I'd just endured. The air in that room was thick with despair and death loomed everywhere. I'd never seen Dimitri so tense either. He sat perfectly still, statue like. He barely even blinked.

His pain was killing me inside. Made me want to cry. It was like something was twisting my gut making me feel ill. I was determined not to cry though. I was the last person who should be crying. I wanted to be strong and not just for Dimitri, but for all of them. I wanted to be the one who gave them some sort of hope that Viktoria was going to get better.

I looked in the mirror and was met with haggard, tired looking eyes. I splashed cold water on my face.

When I did eventually leave the bathroom I saw Dimitri sat in the corridor, his head in his hands. I'd never seen him look so small. So crumpled. He didn't look up at the sound of my footsteps approaching. I knelt in front of him and said his name. He looked up.

Tears stained his face. There was no guardian mask. No attempt to hide his emotions. Just him. I could feel my eyes welling up.

"What if she doesn't make it?" he asked, his voice cracked.

"I'll be here for you. All of you."

He smiled slightly. "I know, Roza. We should go back." he sniffed and wiped his tears away.

Olena was talking to Yeva when we opened the door. Dimitri snapped something back. All in Russian. Damn language barriers. In the silence that developed between them Karolina translated what had just been said.

"I should have told him as soon as he came back. I should have told Dimitri sooner than this at least." Olena wept.

"Yeah you should have." Dimitri snapped.

In the silence I could almost see Dimitri's temper rising. Olean looked back it him. He expected her to say something but she didn't.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't any of you tell me?" he shouted. "If you'd told me Viktoria would be fine!"

"I'm sorry – "

"You're sorry? Sorry won't fix this. Viktoria's going to – " Karolina couldn't go on but I didn't need the translation to know that the word she couldn't speak was 'die'.

"You think I don't feel bad about this?" Olena snapped back and pointed to her chest. She rose from her seat as she spoke. "You don't think I regret this every single moment of the day? Let me tell you something Dimitri Belikov if I could take her place I would." Her voice turned low, threatening almost. "I raised you without a husband to help me. I struggled day in day out to feed and clothe you. You may not respect your father but _you will respect me_ and the position I'm in. Don't you ever talk to me like that ever again." hot, frightened tears coursed down her face.

"Mom I'm – "

"Save it, Dimitri. I don't want to hear it."

Yeva stood up and pulled Olena – her daughter – into her arms where she quietly cried. She also gave Dimitri a cutting, accusing glare. There were no need for words from her.

A voice came from the doorway. I looked round to see Dimitri's other sister, Sonya. She looked as though she'd heard the whole argument. With her was a teenage boy – Paul and a young girl called Zoya, I think. Karolina snapped something back at Sonya, stood up and held Dimitri's hand for a moment.

The two children stood by Viktoria's bed. Sonya hugged Dimitri and whispered what I thought was an apology.

I sat on the floor and waited. I don't know for what exactly but I waited all the same.

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**Please let me know what you think whether it be good reviews full of happiness or constructive criticisms :) **

**DISCLAIMER: A sheer genious called_ Richelle Mead_ owns VA. I do not. **


	3. Chapter 3

**First of all THANKS for the reviews and favourites and stuff - feeling happy. Secondly: What's going to happen to Viktoria? Will she survive or will Lissa be too late? **

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Somehow I managed to doze off.

"Little Dhampir." A voice breathed in my sleep.

"God Adrian I'm trying to sleep."

"You are asleep." He chuckled. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." I lied. "How's Lissa's aura?"

"Less golden than usual. She'll need you to take the darkness soon."

"I was going to – wait what did you say?"

"She'll – "

"No the other bit."

"Less golden?"

How the hell had I missed that clue. _Something golden and wonderful. _Spirit. That had to but it. That was exactly how I described spirit whenever someone asked me what it was like to feel it through the bond. I know I had my moments of slowness but this…

Something on my face must have worried him because he looked at me in concern.

"Rose?" he asked, not sure whether he should take a step forward or run a mile.

"Adrian where are you? Are you with Lissa?"

"Yeah, in a car on the way to Saint Basil's. Why? What's wrong?"

I explained everything to him and told him they needed to get here as soon as possible. He pulled out of my dream. I woke up.

Viktoria was going down hill. Everyone crowed around her bed in a sorrowful silence. I slowly made my way over to her. A doctor left. Olena began crying again.

"She'll be alright." I said.

Everyone looked round at me incredulously apart from Yeva. Under those stares, all so like Dimitri's yet all so different, I felt my knees go weak and my courage leave me. They no doubt thought I was trying to give them false hope.

"Lissa's on her way." I said to Dimitri. "She'll be here in an hour."

"Let's hope that's quick enough." He said with some of his former guardian brusqueness about him. He spoke to his family in Russian probably explaining about Lissa's magic. Although Lissa was queen most people still didn't know about her magic.

Instantly feeling impatient I left the room and made my way over to reception. There was no one there except Alberta of all people. I really hadn't expected to see her here. She looked dishevelled, almost like she'd been crying.

"Hey Alberta." I called. She turned to face me. When I saw her whole face I saw she actually _had_ been crying. "What's wrong?" I asked putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"My dad died." another tear fell from her eye.

It took me a moment to make the connection. Most Dhampirs were born to Dhampir women and Moroi men so they never saw their fathers. Alberta was one of the few rarities in that she had a Moroi mother and Dhampir father and as a result saw more of other dad than her mom.

Seeing Alberta like that was weird to say the least. I'd always seen her and thought of her as a hardy warrior who never cried, never got upset. I'd fought her in both the trials and field placements and man, was she a tough opponent. Seeing her like this… it scared me a little.

"He was the captain of the guardians here. They asked me to lead the memorial. I was just on my way home." She still worked at St. Vladimir's. "Only the jet is in for servicing and won't be back for a week." She controlled her emotions and put her guardian mask back on. She wasn't quite the Alberta I'd known at the Academy but she was almost back to normal.

"Lissa's over here for a few days. You can hitch a ride with us if you like. You'll still get home quicker than if you waited for the jet. Take a week off. You look like you need it. Mrs. Kirova won't mind." I shrugged. "If she does, say it was my idea it's not like she can put me in detention anymore."

She smiled. "The Princess – Queen won't mind?"

This time it was my turn to smile. "No, she'll be happy to see you. She'll be here soon."

"Thanks, Rose." she looked at the clock. "Damn, I'm late for class. Why don't you come? We're doing some demonstrations as most of the novices are injured. They'll get a kick out of seeing you, you're famous around here."

"Sure." anything to make this hour pass quicker. "How are most of them injured at the same time?"

"Filed placements finished yesterday."

On the way we swapped other stories. I stayed of the Viktoria topic though. When we entered the classroom people's faces lit up and there were a few excited whispers. A couple of guys clearly checked me out until someone whispered, "She's with _Dimitri_ remember be careful." Their looks quickly dried up. Nice to know he had that kind of reputation around here.

Alberta introduced me and then told them what we were going to do. They all looked relieved that they didn't have to do anything today. Most had visible bruises on their faces or arms, or they walked with a limp. One girl had a cast on both her leg and arm.

Alberta and I stepped into a circle and demonstrated some moves they were going to learn in the next few weeks and then we put them into a fight. It kind of reminded me of my trial. I'd fought Alberta on the ground and the tension between us was similar. I still remembered all her moves from when she'd mentored me whilst Dimitri was still Strigoi. She evidently remembered mine too making the fight pretty awesome.

Since guarding Lissa I hadn't been in a fight really. Sure there were plenty of people who wanted to harm her but they never got passed mine and Eddie's glares and an escort out of the room. Dimitri and I practiced once a week, sometimes with Eddie and the other guardians we worked with but it wasn't like this. Back at court the fights were emotionless and practice only. There was something light hearted about it too.

With Alberta though it was entirely different. We were both emotionally charged, needed to vent our frustration somewhere and that came through in the fight. Our punches were harder, faster; our kicks sharper, more frequent. We both landed blows making the other stumble. We felt them through the padding.

The class were undecided on who to cheer and I think they just cheered a good move no matter who it was from. As we fought more guardians filtered in somehow knowing what was going on even though this was an impromptu class.

_We're here. _Lissa said through the bond.

I dropped Alberta to the floor and told her I had to go meet Lissa. She nodded. I sprinted off.

I had to go passed the corridor that lead to the hospital to get to the main exit. From it I could faintly hear machines bleeping and doctors shouting at each other. Shit.

It was dark when I got outside and it was finally dawning on me how long we'd been here. It was the middle of the vampiric day, the middle of the human night. We'd arrived in daylight hours.

I didn't stop running until I literally crashed into Lissa. We'd rounded the corner at the same time.

Lissa immediately entered panic mode.

"Rose? What's wrong? Is she okay?" she was squeezing my arms to death.

"No she's worse. You might already be to late." I managed, somehow, to stay calm.

We all immediately ran to the infirmary. Liss, Christian and Adrian had recently been taking combat classes to set an example to other Moroi and as a result had better stamina than before, but they were still going what felt painfully slowly to me.

Eventually we got back inside.

The infirmary was silent.

We all instantly slowed down. The only sound was our heavy breath and footsteps.

I opened the door to Viktoria's room. The monitors were off, silent, lifeless. No one was crying but all looked at Viktoria saying their silent prayers.

"It's a shame Oksana is on holiday. She'd be able to do something." Yeva said in English for my benefit.

"Lissa can't have another bond mate." Dimitri whispered.

"But Adrian can." I said.

Everyone turned to face me. I turned to Adrian. He looked back at me uncomprehending at first but then a light sparkled in his eye. He nodded and moved towards the bed.

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**Tell me what you think and please R&R! ~Fury**

**DISCALIMER: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy. Not me. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews (: Here's the next chapter hope you like it! **

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Everyone solemnly stood back and made room for Adrian. Even Yeva. She nodded at me once. I turned back to Adrian. This had happened to me but I'd never seen it done before. To say I was kind of interested was an understatement. Viktoria had a lot of colour to regain before she could be described as being alive again. I guess I hadn't noticed so much before that she wasn't pale but gray.

Adrian paused for a moment for whatever reason but then, just like I'd seen with

Lissa so many times before, his hand involuntarily reached out and touched Viktoria. I remembered the wonderful goldenness that I felt when Lissa used Spirit but I knew it would be nothing compared to this. When she'd saved Dimitri a brilliant white light engulfed the space. But that was different. That was bringing some one from beyond being dead. It was almost a different type of magic altogether.

We all watched in complete silence barely daring to breathe. Tension, so much brittle tension filled the room I probably could have cut it with a spoon. No one really dared to hope that Adrian could do this. If he couldn't they'd all be devastated again.

Dimitri clutched my hand squeezing too hard.

As we watched Adrian became visibly weaker. Sweat covered his brow and he turned pale. His hands shook as they rested on Viktoria's chest and his knees began to give way. But on his face was a look of complete concentration and determination I began to have little doubt that he'd do it.

Colour returned to Viktoria's cheeks and life came back into her hair. Although Adrian couldn't make it grow back to its previous length it began to look glossy and wavy again.

Her eyes flickered open.

"Where the hell is that bastard?" Viktoria yelled and jerked into a sitting position.

We all jumped. Karolina and Zoya screamed.

"You will walk forever in the shadows whilst I walk in troubled light. Save me and I'll save you, my shadow-kissed Viktoria." Adrian murmured.

Viktoria had turned to face him. Something passed between them. Lissa gasped no doubt seeing something happen to their auras. Her hand grasped mine. Power surged within the room, concentrated and beautiful. It was the bond forming, I realised after a moment. Viktoria held Adrian's gaze. Nothing was said. No one really needed to say anything.

Adrian collapsed.

Jack, Adrian's other guardian, and Terry, one of Lissa's other guardians, carried Adrian out of the room. Olen dashed to Viktoria's side and pulled her into her arms and began sobbing. Viktoria – clearly freaked out – put her arms around her and threw a hasty glance to Dimitri. He spoke to her in Russian and she calmed down but fury replaced her look. No doubt she wanted to kill Levi.

Dimitri finally let go of my hand. Something crunched. I scrunched my face up in extreme pain. With the tension a moment I obviously hadn't realised how hard he was squeezing my hand. Now I was noticing. It wasn't anything I couldn't deal with for a few minutes. Besides having a best friend who could heal all your troubles away kind of made injuries seem like a non event. There one minute, gone the next.

I waited for a while whilst Dimitri and his family spoke to Viktoria before I even thought about going over. As it was Dimitri asked me to go over before I moved from my spot.

Suddenly feeling nervous – but not showing it of course – I walked over to the bed. The language changed to English.

"Hello, Viktoria." I said unthinkingly extending my right hand. It was the only sign of my nerves.

"Hello, Rose." she said taking my hand.

I winced and grabbed it back.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped. "Does being brought back make you super strong or something?"

"No." I breathed. "Dimitri just broke it that's all."

He quickly, gently took my hand in his and cursed in Russian. I was being to think that particular word meant 'shit'. He muttered something else that may have been an apology not that I could understand a word of it. There was another swearword at the end. Olena chastised him. Viktoria grinned.

"Don't worry, Rose, if he ever gives you trouble tell Mom and she'll clip him round the ear." She had as faint an accent as Dimitri and a smile that would win any guys' heart. Maybe even Adrian's.

"I'll bare that in mind." I smiled back. I was liking her already.

Lissa stepped over and took my injured hand in hers and just like that I couldn't feel any pain. It suddenly reminded me of Dimitri burning his hand on Levi's jacket button. He seemed to realise what I was thinking yet again and shook his head slightly. It wasn't a life threatening injury or anything so it didn't really matter that he didn't want it healing but I'd rather that he did all the same. I'd save it for a talk later.

"How's Adrian?" she asked.

Ah. Guardian instincts kicking in already. I gave Dimitri a knowing glance. He knew it too. She'd be a great guardian.

"He'll be out of it for a few days." I explained recalling on past experience. But with Lissa and Adrian the similarities between the after effects of brining someone back from the dead would probably be different. With Lissa bringing me back was the first time she'd used Spirit whereas Adrian had been using it for years. Maybe this would actually make him better.

"That was a pretty intense show if magic." Viktoria murmured.

She reminded me so much of Dimitri then that even if they didn't look alike in a few ways I would have pegged her as his sister a mile off. She had the family's brown eyes and glossy hair except hers had a bit of a wave to it. A sparkle lit up her eyes even though she was having a serious moment. Yeah, she was going to be good.

Her troubled look stayed with her. Dimitri changed the subject.

"This is Vasilisa Dragomir." He said gesturing Lissa forward.

"Your Majesty." Viktoria inclined her head.

"Call me Lissa."

"I guess I'll have to move to court." She looked down at her lap.

"Why don't we call the doctor in?" Olena said shifting the atmosphere. "And get you some proper clothes."

We all stood outside the room after that to allow Viktoria to get changed and no doubt compose herself. I mean she'd just been brought back from the dead. When I found out I'd died once I was pretty astonished but I'd been alive for two years in ignorance so it wasn't such a big deal. And we'd been in a tricky situation so there wasn't much time to be shocked. Viktoria, however, found out straight after it happened and had probably accepted she was going to die before it actually happened. Yeah, she had a lot of shock to get over, not to mention a new life to embrace and live. And a hell of a lot of responsibility.

And Adrian could be a pain in the ass. Hell if anyone knew it was me. Maybe he'd stay out of my dreams and call someone else 'little dhampir'.

I wouldn't wish being shadow-kissed on anyone, it was hard life both mentally and emotionally but I also knew Adrian needed a bond mate and was glad to see he finally had one. To have one such as Viktoria who would also make an excellent guardian was a bonus on his part. Already her protective instincts had kicked in much like mine had after the accident.

Before Liss and I had just been friends and I was protective of her in that way but after the bond formed that protectiveness had taken on a new dimension. It had been refined and made stronger. It was more of an adult protectiveness that matured over the years and become deeper and more ingrained.

She would realise this soon too. Her life was about to drastically change and, honestly, I wouldn't blame her if she flipper out at someone and resent the decision to bring her back. Some part of me knew though that she wouldn't give up and would stick at it with a die hard zeal, the same sort of determination as Dimitri attacked everything with.

"Are you alright, Roza?" Dimitri asked. He bent down so that our eyes met. "You've been out here a while."

I looked back into those dark, dark eyes and saw concern there and a hint of something else – sheer worry. "Just thinking. She has a hard journey ahead of her. You have no idea how difficult."

"She'll be fine. She's strong."

"So am I. I still find it hard to cope sometimes." I whispered. I hated admitting my weaknesses to people, Dimitri in particular.

"She'll cope."

"I don't know, Dimitri." I looked down, not sure I wanted to say what was burning inside my chest. If I didn't I knew I would explode. "It's great that she's alive but… I don't know if we shouldn't have brought her back."

"What do you mean?" he asked tightly. It was a better, calmer reaction than I expected.

"She'll probably hate you, all of you at some point." The rest came out really fast. "When it happened to me I freaked out. If I knew what was happening, if I could have blamed, hated someone I would have. You'll be the only one of your family there and she'll probably take it out on you."

"We'll work it out Rose. You and Vasilisa will be able to give them guidance."

"You know I think she'd prefer it if you called her Vasya." I smiled.

"Come on, let's get some air." He took my hand, overly gently this time, and led me outside.

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**What do you think? Let me know ;)**

**DISCALIMER: I do not own VA, _Richelle Mead_ does.**


	5. Chapter 5

**New Chapter! Woop! Sorry I've been a bit slow - my eyes have suddenly decided they need glasses so using the PC kills at the minute but I've squinted at my screen to get this up for you. This will probably be the last chapter I upload for a while (still got to book an opticians appointment!) so treasure it! Or hate it, which ever you prefer. **

**Oh yeah, I put in the pervious chapters that Rose doesn't know Dimitri's family until this story but I realised for the rest of the story to work that she had to have been to Baia before so ignre all that and I'll get round to fixing it when I can see again. So this stroy takes place after the VA series has finished and everything in the books happened. Sorry for the confusion it's me being a bit daft. Again. **

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I awoke in Dimitri's arms. He was still asleep. Last night at least he hadn't had a nightmare. He'd had them almost every day since he'd been saved. They were different every night and replayed each the atrocities he'd committed as Strigoi. Sometimes he even dreamed of turning me. Those dreams scared him the most as he realised how close he'd been to awakening me. The nightmares were slowly becoming less frequent.

I moved, intending to take a shower, but Dimitri didn't let go. He pulled me closer, his hand moving from my hip, slowly travelling up my back to end up in my hair. Luxuriating in his touch I fell into him and sighed. The previous day had been tough on both of us, him especially.

_Time to go, Rose. Got to talk to all the Moroi around here, _Lissa said through the bond.

I groaned not wanting to leave. Dimitri breathed into my hair turning my resolve into mush.

"I've got to go." I grumbled. Sometimes being Lissa's guardian sucked.

"You can't, you don't have a uniform here." Dimitri yawned.

"Like that's going to stop me."

I pushed myself up and turned round only to half tumble half roll out of bed. I hadn't realised how close to the edge I was. Dimitri laughed at my loss of cool points. I got up and threw on what I was wearing yesterday. Fortunately I'd decided to dress semi-smartly to meet his family so I wasn't wearing scruffy jeans or anything. Instead I had a maroon knit jumper and black skinny jeans which trucked nicely into my boots.

There was a knock at the door. Dimitri quickly pulled some clothes on and opened it. Alberta. Whilst they caught up I practically inhaled a granola bar and reached into Dimitri's duster and pulled out the travel comb he carried. I pulled my hair into a brutal pony tail.

"Okay, gotta go." I kissed Dimitri's cheek and darted out the room. Alberta caught up with me.

"Rose, there's a novice here who we think might fail the qualifier but she's a really good fighter. We're thinking spending a day or two on the job will give her the attitude adjustment she needs."

"You want her to tag along for a while?" I asked not sure that it would work. "She steps out of line and she's gone." There was no way I was risking Lissa or even any of the guardians' lives over a novice's attitude.

"Sure. She'll accompany you to seeing Abe later."

"Wait." I stopped where I was. "We're taking her off campus?" I asked incredulously.

To see Abe we had to go over that road that Sydney had brought me over the first time I came here. We'd faced a Strigoi attack back then and since the attack at St. Vladimir's we'd had reports of them becoming more frequent at an alarming rate, so alarming that people rarely travelled it any more. I suspected Abe was the only guy crazy enough. I was nervous about going over it myself. We had twelve guardians with us – Lissa's eight, Adrian's two and Christian's two – to look after two Moroi and now a novice. Viktoria might even want to come. Even so I was still nervous about it and didn't particularly want that added pressure of a novice.

"Rose, she's taken accelerated classes and is practically ready to graduate. She just needs an attitude adjustment. She'll have a stake."

The news was a sort of comfort to me but I'd still rather leave her behind.

"You don't have a choice in this. Vasilisa has already accepted."

Containing my annoyance I said, "When do I meet her?"

"She's already with Terry but she's to stay with you."

I nodded and entered Lissa's room. I ignored Lissa's greeting, still annoyed with her for making the decision without consulting me, and turned to the novice. She was about my height, barely looked sixteen, and I could tell she had a chip on her shoulder. Blonde, pixie cut hair barely reached her shoulders and she wore a green tank top that revealed way too much skin and a mini skirt that barely covered her butt. And high heals. Seriously. It was a wonder that Alberta was even bothering. She was a lost cause right from the start.

However there was an air of confidence around her that was almost infectious. She stood tall with her head held high. Not defiant exactly but proud. She reminded me of, well, me.

"Rose, this is Anna." Lissa said. "She's sticking with you today."

"Unless she steps out of line." I retorted. "And when she does she'll go straight beck to class."

"I'm not going to step out of line." Anna coolly said. "I'm the best in my class – "

"You're nothing compared to a Strigoi." I snapped. "Come on. You need to change. And then I'm going to see how good you really are. Lissa, I'll talk to you later." I said stiffly.

"Oh, trouble in paradise." Anna smirked.

I glared at her. She shut up pretty quickly.

She emerged from her room wearing something similar to the guardian uniform and had had the prudence to clip her hair back. Satisfied I took her to the gym. There was a class in there but we took a circle to spar in. She went straight on the offensive following her nature. I let her attack for a while but she never got a shot through. I had the upper hand of experience she still had a few lesson to go before she was of a graduating standard. Still content to let her attack I dropped my game a bit so that she was almost able to 'kill' me. At that moment I turned on the offensive and dropped to the floor and 'broke her neck' and 'staked' her.

She looked pretty angry and glared at me. I stood up and offered her a hand but she refused it. Yeah, she definitely reminded me of myself.

"You'll survive out there. If you're lucky and the Strigoi ignore you."

I turned round and left her standing there with her jaw on the floor.

That was perhaps a bit harsh on my part. If a Strigoi did attack her she'd put up a good fight, a really good fight. But she'd be lucky if she'd win it. I was hoping that by being overly harsh on her she'd realise that she still had a lot to learn and a lot of growing up to do. She'd probably learn some respect as well which was the majority of her problem.

"Hey!" she fell instep with me. "The instructors give me more praise than that."

"I'm not your instructor. I am here to help you improve though. Before you qualify you need the correct attitude. You're a great fighter but they think you're going to fail the qualifier."

She stopped on the inside of the door, shock written over her face. Her eyes went wide in disbelief. This was obviously a wake up call for her.

"Look," I pulled her out of the door to let her class mates out. "Impress me today and I'll put a word in for you. You want to be a guardian right?"

"Yes."

"You're hanging around today to see what it is to be a guardian. If that doesn't make you see that you need to improve your attitude and train harder nothing will. This will help." I tried not to smile as I realised how much like Dimitri I sounded. "Shadow me today. Learn for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I figured this was a one day treat type thing."

I headed off down the corridor. "You'll love tomorrow." I said over my shoulder. "But if you're not terrified you're probably going to die."

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**Hope you liked it pleace R&R! **

**DISCLAIMER: _Richelle Mead _owns the fabulous Vampire Academy, not me - even though I whish I did. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay sorry for the huge, ginormic halt in up-dating but as I said ages ago I need glasses and not that I FINALLY have them I can actually see! I'm so happy! So here you are the next chapter in the story. I'm well aware the title no longer fits so any suggestions would be cool (:**

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"You realise you might not come back from this."

Anna nodded once, fear in her eyes. Good. If she wasn't afraid I would have sent her straight to Alberta and told her that she was going to fail the qualifier.

"I'll impress you." Steely determination came through her voice.

"Don't. If you try and impress me you'll go wrong. Just do your best. And stay close."

"Come on, _Dimitri._" Christian mocked. He was enjoying seeing me be all responsible and give someone the exact same lessons I'd been given once. He called it 'coming full circle'. "You know how school trips go, the bus doesn't wait."

"There wasn't a sophomore on this trip until you joined it." I called back.

Lissa elbowed him and continued walking towards the SUV's we were taking. Anna and I followed more slowly with Dimitri holding my hand.

"If there is a Strigoi attack I want you to stay with Lissa. A couple of other guardians, Dan and Warwick most likely, will stay with her as well." Dan and Warwick were two other guardians she had. There was also Terry, James, Alex and Curtis. Being the only female guardian meant I came in for some joking sexist comments but they all knew that I'd win in a fight. Having another female guardian, even though she was still a novice, was kind of nice actually. We needed a bit more oestrogen to combat the amount of testosterone that flew about.

"What if you need me?" she protested.

"Unless the Strigoi actually make it to you guys I don't want you to do anything. You follow their orders to the letter. Anna," I stopped and faced her. "If anyone tells you to leave you get in a car and drive. Don't wait for anyone."

She nodded, determined but scared. Determination was beginning to override all other emotions.

The sun began to rise. We were going to wait until it was over the horizon before we left. Strigoi couldn't attack us in daylight but humans still could. No one as really quite sure of the threat that humans opposed anymore but ever since the Badica attack whenever we went out of the protection of wards, and even sometimes when we were inside wards, it was at the forefront of my mind. We didn't have the same advantages we'd had over Strigoi anymore. We relied on using their weaknesses against them but now even the daylight wasn't safe.

We'd get to a small village just as dark approached and sleep there for the night. Abe had contacted the villagers and sorted out accommodation for us. Then we'd travel to Novosibirsk tomorrow. Hopefully with as many guardians as we had no Strigoi would attack during the night.

Viktoria had, to the relief of her whole family, decided to stay behind and watch over Adrian instead of coming with us.

Finally it was time to go. Eddie drove, Terry took shotgun, Dan sat next to Lissa and on her other side was Christian, I sat in the back with Anna and Warwick. The other guardians – a further eight – sat in the other SUV and followed. It sounded like a lot of guardians for only two people but there was no way any of us were taking any chances.

As well as stakes we each carried a gun and a few spare magazines, just in case. I passed Anne her stake. She took it reverently and seemed to feel more secure. She'd already been given a gun but it was Strigoi who would pose the biggest threat and stakes were the only weapons we head to fight them off. We had Christian as well and he could do a lot of damage but only so long as his strength lasted. Fortunately he was a good magic user. He'd come a long way since the first time I'd seen him practice with his aunt Tasha. I'd feel more comfortable if she was with us as well but we had as much protections as we were going to get.

We only stopped momentarily at Dimitri's house so we could get a couple of changes of clothes. After that we sped off along what was argued as the most dangerous road any Moroi or Dhampir would ever travel. Dimitri's family began silently praying as we left. If there was a god up there I hoped he'd be on our side if the worst came.

I at back in my chair seeming to relax but I was alert. Anna kept looking round in the typical Dhampir way.

Most of the day went by uneventfully but through the tinted windows I could see dark clouds forming. The air turned chill.

"There's a bitterness in the wind." Anna murmured. "It's going to snow."

My stomach sank. Snow was the last thing we needed on this treacherous journey. The road was rough and I had a sudden longing for the _Red Hurricane_, the car that Sydney had fallen in love with when we traversed this rout. I pulled some gloves on. And quickly added a hat. Christian made some warmth.

"Save it, Christian." I said. He did without question knowing of the danger I spoke.

Anna cursed in Russian and rubbed her hands together. I remembered her bag getting thrown into the other car. I took my gloves off and have them too her.

"Ah, shit." Eddie said.

I looked out the window to see a wall of white. We were going to drive into a blizzard.

"I can't see a thing in there."

"We can." Lissa said. "Let me drive. Christian can drive the other one."

"I'm not leaving you." Christian growled.

"Then we leave half our guardians behind." She looked at him levelly. "Go."

After a few minutes we were back under way. In the time that we had stopped I passed bags around and people put extra layers on. Curtis had the foresight to bring Anna's bag over with him. She smiled and pulled out a thick parker and what looked like snowboarding gloves. I looked longingly at them but had to make do with the silly not even full fingered fashion gloves I had. I'd left home knowing I'd forgotten something. Damn.

It was pitch black inside the blizzard but we couldn't stop for fear of risking our lives. We crawled along the road. There was no way we were going to reach the village by nightfall now. All of us were painfully aware of the fact and went onto high alert. A Strigoi could probably move faster than we were doing.

My Strigoi senses kicked in a moment too late. We heard a groan and a crash of metal – the other SUV rolling over – a second before a Strigoi landed on the bonnet. Eddie leapt in front of Lissa. We all fell out of the car.

"Stay here!" I ordered Anna and turned to see a Strigoi come flying at me.

She pushed me into the side of the car. My stake flew out of my hand. Her hands came around my neck cutting off air. I heard a warrior cry behind me and the Strigoi howled and let go. I fell to the floor, landing on my stake. Not waiting for air I jumped up and attacked. She fought back even though a cut had opened up her forearm. I guessed Anna had attacked out of panic. We both landed blows but in the end she took a risky move and I was able to stake her.

I had a quick look round and saw flames behind me. Everyone was locked in combat. Curtis fell. I was the closest person to him and leapt in there. Knowing it would make me stronger I sucked a storm cloud of darkness from Lissa and turned the rage into strength.

The guy I fought was good, had been a turned a few years ago at a guess. He tripped me over sending me tumbling down the verge. He jumped after me. He landed on top of me, his hands ready to break my neck. Pure rage spilled out of me. I was not going to die now. My stake pierced his back. He jumped off and fell to the floor. I staked him.

Lissa pulled me into her head. A snarling, grinning strigoi had killed the two guardians nearest her. Anna was on the floor unconscious. Lissa grabbed a stake and fused it with Spirit. She'd done it once she could do it again. Another Strigoi grabbed her from behind and dragged her from the car.

"Rose!" she screamed.

I slammed back into my body. The walls that kept spirits away dropped in my panic and I ran. I couldn't see anything but the whiteness of snow which covered the black canvas of night that was all around me. I didn't need to see I just needed to follow the bond. Someone stood in my way. Ghosts mobbed whoever it was. I assumed it was a Strigoi. I ignored them. I ignored everyone. I had to get to Lissa. I had to get to her before it was too late.

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**Hope you liked it and thought it was worth the wait. 5 reviews before I update please! **

**Remember to give me your new title suggestions, love y'all ;) **

**Disclaimer: VA, the brilliant, brilliant, VA belongs to Richelle Mead. I'm jealous.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Woo new chapter! Hope you like. Please feel free to R&R! **

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The Strigoi's hands moved to Lissa's head ready to break her neck. I sprinted.

"Rose!" Lissa screamed.

I jumped on the Strigoi's back and snapped his neck. I flipped him over and staked him. Lissa fell back to the floor closed her eyes. I spun round and looked over the battle field. I couldn't see much because of the blizzard but I was willing to bet the Strigoi were ignoring the ghosts as best as they could but the distraction was giving us the advantage. I remembered Mark's warnings against letting them come to me but right now we needed all the help we could get.

Suddenly the snow stopped. The wind disappeared too. Finally able to see I looked round properly. There were only two fights going on. They abruptly ended when Christian sent a streak of fire towards the Strigoi.

Anna lay on the floor a few feet away. Her eyes cracked open and she groaned. Lissa moved over to her and healed her. The bond felt golden and wonderful for a few moments helping me to banish the enormity of what had just happened here. I'd killed three, another two were lying close by, and the guardians from the other vehicle all looked like they'd been in a fight. I counted the bodies around me. Eight Strigoi, Curtis, Warwick, Jack and James (one of Christian's guardians) were dead. There was another Strigoi down the verge, two inside the car where Eddie was trapped beneath them.

What was most shocking to see were the two Moroi bodies. Terry came over and explained that they'd created the storm with their magic. My blood boiled some more but I knew it wasn't the time.

"We killed five, two got away." Alex, Christian's remaining guardian said. I hadn't heard him approach, I was too angry about the Moroi helping Strigoi.

"Jesus." I breathed. "It's a wonder any of us are left."

"Roza!" Dimitri pulled me into his arms, tears in his eyes. For a moment I wondered why but then it dawned on me – this was the first time he'd killed since being a Strigoi. He pulled away, looked around and swore in Russian. "I'll call Alberta." He said.

"Don," who was Adrian's guardian, "Is talking to Sydney Sage." Alex said.

"I'll call Abe."

That is if my phone survived. I pulled it out my pocket to see it cracked, something had fallen off it and the buttons had mostly disappeared. I fiddled with it for a few moments in the back of a car with Lissa sat next to me. She was faintly crying. Christian was holding her hand but talking to Alex and the other guardians who had survived.

"Hello." Abe's accented voice came as a crackle down the phone. It wasn't brilliant but it was working. Just.

"Hey, Zmey." I said putting some cheer into my voice.

"What do you need?" he was suddenly in business mode. Apparently me ringing him sent alarm bells ringing. I guess he had cause since last time I spoke to him I was about to be executed for a crime I didn't commit but it would have been nice for him to have a little faith in me.

"We just got attacked by sixteen Strigoi."

"Are you alright?" he kept his voice level but there was no mistaking the worry that was in his underlying tones even through the crackle.

"Yeah I'm fine. Four of us didn't make it. Dimitri is talking to Sydney."

"I want you out of there as soon as possible, Rose."

"It gets worse. Moroi helped them."

"Drive through the night. I'll meet you on the road." He cut off.

My phone began sparking. I pulled the sim-card out and threw the rest of it to the floor.

"Alberta says to go back to the Academy." Dimitri said.

"Abe wants us to drive on through the night. He'll meet us half way. He's just left."

"That's suicide!" Christian exclaimed.

"Trust me, Christian." I said. "Staying here is suicide. Meeting Abe's our best bet."

Everyone reluctantly followed my warped Rose logic which was in turn following Abe Mazur's warped logic. Hopefully the logic put together made it all the more likely to work. Both plans were pretty suicidal but I'd rather be suicidal at the same time as moving and getting closer to safety. As we drove we'd get closer to Novosibirsk at the same time as the skies got lighter. All round I'd rather take my chances on the move rather than taking my chances staying put.

The only thing that had to be done was to move the bodies off the road and into the verge in case anyone was crazy enough to come along the road before Sydney came along.

"Rose?" Anna asked tremulously. "I want to go home." She was shivering from shock and looked scared to death. Tears hadn't entered her eyes yet but that was because she was still too shocked. As soon as the shock wore off she would be much like I was after Spokane.

"We need to get in the cars."

"I want to go home."

"We'll get you there." I took a step towards her.

"No! Stay away from me!" She took a step backwards. "You killed him and then just stopped. You haven't even looked at him since. You don't even look sorry! If this is what it is to be a guardian I don't want to be one. How could anyone be so heartless?" she shouted. She stopped as if in shock. Her eyes went wide for a moment before she closed them and took a few deep breaths. Then the tears came.

Slowly I walked over to her and pulled her into my arms. I knew what this was like. I knew what it was too see this kind of death. Fortunately for me I'd had people around who loved me. Anna had no one. As I stood holding her, hoping she'd be okay I realised the parallels between this and Spokane. Christian's 'full circle' thing came to mind again.

Once we were all in the cars Lissa and Christian quickly fell asleep from having used so much magic – Christian's defending us and Lissa healing us. Anna clung to me and continued softly crying. Eddie resumed driving. Alex sat in shotgun, Don next to Lissa. The other car only had Dimitri, Terry, Dan and James.

We were a quiet party for the rest of the night and well into the early hours of the next day. All of us were on alert. No one tried to lift the atmosphere. We'd all lost friends tonight and none of them would get a proper burial or even _molnijas_ sent to their families for the Strigoi they'd killed.

Disgusted, I leaned my head back against the head rest and closed my eyes for a moment. The darkness I'd taken from Lissa during the fight was starting to bug me. I reached for a Spirit ring. It took the edge off but it wasn't strong enough to take it all away, however it wasn't anything I couldn't cope with. It was keeping me on edge in case of another attack which was good because all I really wanted to do right now was sleep. I hadn't slept well on the flight over and hadn't slept since we arrived. I was running into my third day on no sleep.

Eddie slammed the breaks on.

"What is it?" I demanded.

"Some crazy kid in a car just damn near ran us off the road!"

The occupant of the car, which was broad side to us, stormed over. She wore a long, smart black coat, smart trousers and a blue-ish green turtle neck sweater. When she'd slammed the door I had a proper look at the car- the _Red Hurricane_

"What the hell – "

"Hey Sydney." I smiled.

Sydney peered into the car. "That explains it." She muttered.

"Nice to see you too."

"Abe told me what happened. I thought I taught you not to leave bodies lying around in the sunlight." If I wasn't mistaken Sydney had just tried to tell a joke.

"Sixteen this time. How's the _Red Hurricane_?"

"Fine. Hopefully. If she's damaged I'm billing you. Abe's not too far behind."

She turned round and headed towards her car.

"Jeez, what did we do?" Eddie said noticing her abrasiveness.

"She thinks we're all evil creatures of the night. I bet Christian's dark clothes haven't helped with that image." I shrugged. He looked back and scowled. I kind of owed him for calling me Dimitri earlier. "Come on, let's get going again."

Around the next corner a dark, sleek car almost crashed into us. It was followed by another black car. Guardians spilled out of it.

Abe stepped out of his car and signaled them to hold back. Don opened the slide door and I got out and walked over to him.

"Hello, Rose."

"Hello, old man."

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**Questions, questions, questions. Who were to two Moroi? **

**VA belongs to Richelle Mead - that's my disclaimer. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay it's been ages I know but here it is, the latest chapter. The title really needs to change as it no longer fits so any suggestions are welcome. I hope this chapter was worth the wait! **

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It was a relief to be with him. Not that I was going to admit it of course.

"You're still never far from trouble are you?" he smiled.

"What would be the fun in staying safe? You want to talk to Lissa now or later?"

"We'll talk in the car."

Eddie had heard and escorted Liss and Christian to Abe's car. I went in with them. There was already one of Abe's guards in there making the back slightly crowded. None of us dared complain.

"Good to see you again, Abe." Lissa smiled.

Christian shook his hand.

"Always a pleasure. Now those two Moroi, do you know who they were?"

"Your people." Christian said stiffly.

That I hadn't been told and there was no doubt the shock and anger that was all over my face. I probably looked like I wanted to punch someone. This meant that the Moroi weren't just Moroi who worked and lived in the human world. They were Moroi with power and in an important position.

Abe was the guy who controlled the Alchemists, distributed them, got the chemicals, and trained them. His head quarters held records and documents detailing hundreds of government secrets about the workings of the alchemists, clean up operations, locations of Strigoi lairs, their favourite places to wait to capture passers by; information about Lissa and the royal court, the guardian headquarters. If that information got into the wrong hands… If the Strigoi found out the secrets we have disaster on a huge scale would strike. A disaster beyond what was witnessed tonight.

But he also controlled the people who found and distributed the feeders. The strigoi would put a spy in amongst them. Or cut them off altogether. Without feeders the Moroi would die. Without the Moroi there would be no more Dhampirs. Without the Dhampirs the Strigoi would roam the earth at will and kill whenever they pleased.

We had to find out if there were any more spies and what information they had given out. And fast.

"They were with you last time you came to court." Christian continued. "The blonde and the red head."

Abe muttered something in Turkish. "We'll talk about that later. Lissa," anyone else would have used a title or something but Abe didn't. He was the only person I'd met who had the guts not to. "One of the feeder runs has become too dangerous to travel as I told you. We now know why. With your permission I'd like to find the band of Strigoi who have been plundering it."

"Do whatever you have to. What of your _other_ dealings?"

Intrigued to know more, like, say what his illegal dealings were, I was disappointed when Lissa hid it from the bond.

"They've taken hits. I have strategies in place to re-boost numbers but with this new information I think we can solve it without too much of a problem." Abe had that look about him that said he was going to beat the information he needed out of someone. It was the look he'd given me once, on the night of Dimitri's memorial no less. I did not envy the people he was going to turn that on. "I'll show you when we get to the building."

"We're going to see where you actually work?" I asked suddenly excited.

Christian smirked, "It's not that exciting. I've been there before. Sometimes, Rose, being a Moroi trumps being a Dhampir."

I scowled back unable to say anything to that – he was right. Instead I focused on Abe. "You let him see it before me? What happened to daughter's rights?"

Lissa managed a smile of which I was grateful. Abe gave me a wry look and leaned back in his seat.

"Your Mom will be glad to see you, Rose."

"Mom? Why would she… ? She's there?"

Ah hell, it was starting to feel like a family get together already. The last time they were in a room together Abe flirted with every woman in the room _including_ Mom. I could handle him being a flirt but when he made a move on Mom I was suddenly all protective.

"She almost punched me when I told her she couldn't come in the car."

"About time someone did that to you." I smiled trying not to laugh at the mental image I had. Mom was about a whole foot shorter than him but I knew she would be able to take him down.

The rest of the journey passed in silence. Abe read a newspaper somehow still managing to look terrifying even with a cup of tea I his hand. Lissa and Christian sat staring at nothing and I watched the landscape go by. When Novosibirsk came into view I was plagued with memories of the time I'd spent there. Abe glanced in my direction. I turned away from the window and picked up the rest of his paper. It was all in Russian. I threw it back down and leaned my head against the head rest and closed my eyes.

I managed to doze off for a while. Not that it felt like I'd had any sleep when I woke up. As soon as my eyes had closed Adrian appeared in one of his dreams.

"I heard what happened to you. Are you alright?"

I studded his face for a moment. As it often happens in these dreams he lost his lackadaisical expression and was completely serious. Most people didn't believe me when I said he could be serious sometimes but it was true. It had surprised me the first time it happened too.

"Why now?" I demanded hands on hips. He looked taken aback "The first sleep I get in days and _you_ show up! I'm going to be even more tired when I wake up!" I sat down on the sandy floor with my legs crossed and my arms folded over my chest. I was wearing denim sorts, a purple crop-top. The Nazar hung from my belly-button and my chotki adorned my wrist as usual.

"You're fine then." Adrian sat across from me, also crossing his legs. He was wearing board shorts and a green t-shirt with an open collar. He had flip-flops on his feet. "How's Lissa?"

"Fine. We're on our way to Abe's place wherever that is. Tell Alberta Anna's fine just freaked out."

"Okay."

"And you should lay off using Spirit just while the bond forms." He nodded. Hesitantly I asked, "How are you two?"

"Alright I guess. There's more darkness within me now. Sometimes it's difficult. Viktoria is getting snippets of things. A kind of 'fuzzy hum' every now and then."

I thought back to when Lissa and I were in the same situation. I had assumed it was just an after effect of being in the crash, concussion or something, but I guess it was all part of the bond forming.

"It's normal. Don't worry about it. We'll be back soon."

He nodded. "Rose," this time it was his turn to be hesitant, "is it true. About the Moroi?"

"How much do you know?"

"Just that they were there."

Grimly, I told him everything we knew so far. He sat listening with outrage all over his face, in the clench of his fists. I'd seen many sides to Adrian that other people hadn't seen but outrage wasn't one of them. It was scary but bizarrely it suited him. I was just about to tell him to calm down but the car stopped and I woke up.

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**Vampire Academy and all it's charcaters belong to Richelle Mead**


	9. Chapter 9

**New Chapter! As ever I hope you guys like it and your efforts at reading aren't thwarted by any doddgy spelling I may have missed (: **

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We had stopped in front of a large stately home type building. Onion domes of a rainbow of colours accented the skyline. Ornate doors sat inside beautifully carved stone frames and windows arched over head. I was so overwhelmed by the building that it took me a moment to notice Mom standing on the steps that led up to the door. Relief shone on her face for a moment before she schooled it back.

"Are you alright?" she asked coming down the steps towards me.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine. You should have punched him, you know." I gestured to Abe.

Lissa and Christian got out of the car and we all instinctively took defensive positions around them. I stood by Lissa's side with only Anna between us. On the drive over Anna had regained her composure and she was doing a good job at being a guardian now. Still we all wanted her close to Lissa and Christian, especially after what had happened on the road, that way she'd have a throng of guardians around her if something else happened. Not that anything would happen here. Mom stood close to me and Abe was behind her. I couldn't see Dimitri but I knew he was close by.

"Honestly, old man," I said. "I'm disappointed. I imaged dungeons and spiders and rats. Not a palace."

Beside me I guessed Mom was rolling her eyes. Anna smiled, probably feeling the same given that she had been fed the same line about his business as I had. Abe laughed but didn't say anything.

Inside was the grandeur that came with every ancient Russian building. Everything was open and the ceilings were held up by columns and pillars. Gold leafing covered the ornamentation. Cherubs and angels were painted on the ceiling. Statues and paintings lined the walls as well as tapestries that told stories of the old days.

"I'll let you have dinner before we get down to business." Abe said. Someone had appeared by his side and was taking notes. "A feast fit for the Queen and to honour our dead. Lissa, you know the way to the guest rooms. I have urgent business to attend to." Abe split off from the rest of us I moved to follow him but Mom stopped me, pushing me back onto place. I almost argued but the look in her eyes told me she'd knock me out if she had to.

When we got to the guest rooms a selection of sandwiches had been laid out for us to tide us over until dinner. All of us were pretty starved but we held back and let Christian, Lissa and Anna get what they wanted before we touched them. Mom, although she looked hungry didn't have anything. I sat with her and intended on bombarding her with questions – after I'd finished my sandwich.

Looking around I saw guardians lining the walls. They hadn't been there a moment ago. I let myself relax a little. Dimitri sat next to me, an arm around my shoulder. Anna sat on my other side and Mom sat opposite.

I didn't really taste my sandwich but as soon as I had finished it I asked, "What defences does this place have?"

"Wards and guardians patrolling the grounds. There's no way anyone is getting in." Mom said easily.

"That's what we thought at Saint Vladimir's." I said bluntly. "We also didn't expect to be attacked by sixteen Strigoi and two Moroi."

Mom looked shocked for about the first time ever. "I hadn't heard numbers." She said. "You're lucky to be alive." She glance at Dimitri but quickly looked away. As she did Dimitri stiffened. I glanced up at him too, my gaze telling him we'd talk as soon as we got a chance.

"So's Lissa. I only just got to her in time." I wasn't sure quite how I said it but Dimitri as ever knew the meaning behind the words.

"She's fine, _Roza_."

After that I guess I dozed off for a while because next thing I knew Mom was waking me up saying it was dinner time. I kicked into gear and saw Lissa moving into the next room with Christian and Anna by her side. Dimitri was helping Don stand up – he had a massive bruise on his hip and had refused Lissa's help. Knowing we were all safe for now I let my mind slow and I moved sluggishly. I'd had maybe four hours sleep in the last few days. Bed sounded like the best idea in the world only to be trumped by Mom saying I could have chocolate brownies for pudding if I wanted them.

"You're coddling her again, Janine." Abe said having appeared out of nowhere. My sluggish brain was surprised and I nearly jumped out of my skin. If Mom was surprised she didn't show it.

"I am not. I'm just making sure she eats that's all. Come on Rose, let's eat." Mom walked off. If I wasn't mistaken she'd just used me as an escape rout.

"She's coddling you." Abe said triumphantly.

Mom turned round. "Ibrahim, I swear if you don't shut up I will punch you, guardians or no." Mom's accent thickened slightly and she glared at him. Out of the corner of my eye to my right I could see one of the guardians forcing herself to keep a straight face and was slowly cracking up. Grinning, I blocked her from view and looked on with keen interest. Dimitri stood watching with Don leaning on him for support. I hoped he'd accept Lissa's help soon – the bruise was getting worse.

"Do you want me to get you a stool? I can make it a cushioned one if you like." I felt Dimitri cracking up beside me. A crowd by the doors to the dining room caught my eye. Everyone else was watching.

If Mom wasn't quite so small, say my height, it wouldn't have been quite so funny. We all knew that she could battle Strigoi who were taller than Abe but seeing her take on her former lover was pretty comical. Especially since Abe wasn't cracking under the pressure. I kind of began to wonder what a full on fist fight between these two would look like.

"I don't need a stool." Mom retorted and walked into the dining room.

"At least I don't have to worry about siblings anymore." I muttered as I walked into the dining room.

Lissa had the seat at the head of the table with Christian to her right and me to her left. Dimitri was next to me and next to him was Mom, opposite who was Abe. It really was like a family get together.

Back at court when we had big dinners like this – all Lissa's and Christian's guardians and Adrian – it was a happy meal full of laughter but there were holes in the order of things. We all tended to sit in the same order back at court every time we had a meal like this. People subconsciously left holes where our comrades were missing. Anna seemed to recognise this and hadn't sat down.

Lissa stood holding a glass. We all raised ours knowing what was coming. A toast for the dead.

"Back at home," she began confidently, "the Death Watch will be conducted when we return along with a formal memorial for which families will be invited to court. Now, however, we few shall remember our fallen in what is perhaps a more traditional way." her voice began to crack but she carried on regardless. "They were our colleagues, some of the best guardians we have, but more importantly they were our friends. Whilst they will be greatly missed they would want us to move on with our lives and remember them for who they were and not how they died. They were all great people each with their own personalities and characters, which is how we shall remember them. Our family." we toasted and then had a moment's silence.

I felt myself tearing up a little during that heavy silence. They really were all great people and even though I'd been the youngest and the only girl they'd all treated me as if I really was the same age as them. With them it wasn't just all work either, we'd celebrated birthdays and Christmases and people being born in to the family. We'd supported each other through everything – deaths, illnesses, fall outs, the lot. We really were one big family. To lose that… to lose all those people…

Dimitri's hand cupped my chin and turned me to face him. He wiped s tear from my face and pulled me into his arms. His scent wrapped around me like a balm, calming me as always. He whispered words of Russian in my ear as always when I needed his support. I didn't understand a word of it but like a blanket they warmed my heart. When I looked back up everyone had moved up the table sitting in the previously empty seats, Anna was sat in one of them talking to Alex.

For most of dinner we swapped stories of our missing friends, laughing at them or carrying on jokes that they had started, one being feeding me with a spoon because I was the baby of the group. It was Curtis who had started that, I noted sombrely. On my twenty first birthday as well. Just as then Dimitri sat back and laughed.

We were just starting dessert when a flushed faced Sydney rushed in. She was looking pretty beat up. Blood stained her hair line and a nasty bruise coloured her jaw and, for the first time since I'd known her, she looked scruffy. Dirt covered her torn jacket and blood was sprayed over her.

"We've just been attacked by Humans in the city." She panted and wavered on her feet.

As one, even Anna, we stood and followed Abe out of the room.

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**So that was the chapter, hope you liked it, the only way I will know is if you R&R, remember more reviews means quicker updates! **

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